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BRIEF   MEMORIES  |,<3 

^1 


OP 


LOUIS  AND  SOME  OF  HIS  CONTEMPORARIES 


IN 


THE    PARISIAN    SCHOOL    OF    MEDICINE 
OF    FORTY   YEARS    AGO. 


BY 


HENRY   I.  BOWDITC^  M.D., 

UEMBEB    OF    THE     SOCIETIES    FOR    MEDICAL    OBSEBVATION    OF    PARIS    AND 
OF    BOSTOX. 


BOSTON: 

PRESS   OF   JOHN    WILSON   AND    SON. 
1872. 


Boston,  Oct.  10,  1872. 

HeNRT   I.   BOWDITCH,   M.  D. 

Dear  Sir,  —  The  undersigned,  a  Committee  of  the  Boston  Society 
FOR  Medical  Observation,  have  tlie  pleasure  to  request  of  you,  on 
behalf  of  the  Society,  a  copy  for  publication  of  your  "  Memories  of  Louis 
and  some  of  his  contemporaries,"  which  you  read  to  the  Society  at  a  recent 
meeting.  Hoping  you  will  comply  with  the  request  and  thereby  enable 
the  Society  to  express  its  respect  for  the  memory  of  Louis,  we  remain,  very 
truly,  yours, 

Edward  H.  Clarke. 
Calvin  Ellis. 
Francis  H.  Bbown. 


BoYLSTON  Street,  Oct.  10,  1872. 

Drs.  Clarke,  Ellis,  and   Brown,  Committee  of  the  Boston  Society 
FOR  Medical  Observation. 

Gentlemen, —  The  "Memories  of  Louis,"  as  I  stated  at  our  late 
meeting,  were  written  con  amore,  and  at  the  same  time  calamo  currente. 
It  seemed  to  me  proper  that  some  notice  should  be  taken  by  our  Society  of 
the  death  of  Louis.  While  I  wrote  I  thought  of  the  friend  as  much  as  I  did 
of  the  teacher.  It  gratifies  me,  of  course,  to  know  that  the  members  of  the 
Society  were  so  far  pleased  with  my  endeavor  to  do  honor  to  the  memory  of 
that  excellent  man,  as  to  request  a  copy  for  publication. 

I  can  only  hope  that  others  who  may  take  the  trouble  to  read  it,  may 
be  equally  kind  in  their  judgment.  I  herewith  give  into  your  hands  a  copy 
for  the  press. 

Very  truly,  yours, 

Uenht  I.  Bowditch. 


BRIEF   MEMORIES   OF   LOUIS. 


Gentlemen  ani>  Membeks  of  the  Society  for  Medical  Observa- 
tion AT  Boston  : 

To  the  influence  of  our  celebrated  professional 
associate  Louis,  of  Paris,  we  owe  the  birth  of  this 
and  of  kindred  Societies  elsewhere,  and  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  Clinical  Conferences  of  the  Medical 
School  of  Harvard  College.  At  this  meeting,  there- 
fore, when  you  not  only  return  from  your  "  long 
vacation  "  of  the  summer,  refreshed  and  prepared 
for  renewed  labors  in  the  study  and  practice  of  our 
art,  but  likewise  have,  through  your  efficient  secre- 
tary, been  led  back  to  the  earlier  days  of  this  asso- 
ciation, it  seems  most  appropriate  that  we  should 
step  aside  from  the  usual  course  pursued  at  our 
meetings,  in  order  to  pay  a  passing  tribute  of 
respect  to  the  memory  of  that  great  master  in 
medicine,  who,  enriched  by  well-eai*ned  honors,  and 
surrounded  by  loving  friends,  has,  since  we  last 
met,  died  at  the  ripened  age  of  eighty-five  years. 

It  is  with  a  peculiar,  though  melancholy  pleasure, 
that   I   undertake  to  speak  to   you  at  this  time. 


6 


for  I  had  towards  that  master  not  only  these 
reverent  feelings  of  respect  which  Hippocrates  tells 
us  we  ought  to  have  toward  any  excellent  teacher 
who  has  led  us  into  this  noble  profession,  but 
I  have  had  still  warmer  emotions  whenever 
during  the  last  forty  years  I  have  thought  of  him 
as  one  of  the  dearest  of  my  personal  friends.  For 
this  latter  reason  you  will  perhaps  the  more  readily 
pardon  any  undue  enthusiasm  you  may  think  I 
show  while  speaking  of  the  character  and  works 
of  this  worthy  man. 

LOUIS'    LIFE-WORK. 

In  the  "  Pantheon  des  Illustrations  Fran9aises  au 
Dix-neuvieme  Siecle,"  published  at  Paris,  1855,  I 
find  the  following  terse  and  most  modest  biography, 
which  Louis  allowed  to  be  published  with  his 
portrait :  — ^ 

"  Louis  (Pierre  Charles  Alexandre) ,  Honorary  Physician 
of  the  liospitals  at  Paris  ;  Member  of  the  Imperial  Academy 
of  Medicine ;  President  for  life  of  the  Society  for  Medical 
Observation  ;  Officer  of  the  Legion  of  Honor,  —  was  born  at 
A'i  (Marne)  in  1787. 

1  Panthdon  des  Illustrations  rran9aiscs  an  Dix-neuvieme  Siecle,  conte- 
nant  un  portrait,  une  biographic,  et  un  autographe  de  chacun  des  liommes 
lea  plus  marquants  dans  I'administration,  les  arts,  I'arnjee,  le  Larreau,  le 
clergd,  I'industrie,  les  lettres,  la  magistrature,  la  politique,  les  sciences,  &c. 
Public  sous  la  ilirection  dc  Victor  Frond,  Paris.  Lenicrcicr,  iniprimcur,  57 
rue  de  Seine,  18G5. 


"  He  was  destined  by  his  family  to  the  study  of  the  law,  but 
he  soon  abandoned  that  profession  in  order  to  study  medi- 
cine. 

"  Having  received  the  rights  of  doctor  of  medicine,  in 
1813,  he  left  France  in  1814,  and  went  to  ^Russia,  where  he 
practised  the  profession,  after  having  obtained,  at  St.  Peters- 
burg, a  diploma  of  doctor  of  medicine. 

"  On  his  return  to  Paris,  in  1820,  Medical  Science,  under 
the  influence  of  the  writings  and  public  teachings  of  Brous- 
sais,  was  in  great  confusion.  Much  was  in  doubt,  a  very 
painful  doubt,  and  in  order  to  relieve  himself  from  it  he 
resigned  practice,  and  gave  himself  up  wholly  to  the  observa- 
tion of  patients  at  the  Hospital  of  La  Charitd.  This  he  did 
for  six  consecutive  years  without  other  occupation. 

"  The  study  of  the  facts  there  collected  enabled  him  to 
publish  successively  :  — 

"In  1823,  a  memoir  on  perforation  of  the  small  intestine, 
in  acute  diseases;  a  second,  on  croup  in  the  adult;  a  third, 
on  the  communications  between  the  right  and  left  cavities  of 
the  heart  {Archives  de  medecine). 

"In  1824,  two  memoirs  on  the  pathological  anatomy  of 
the  mucous  membrane  of  the  stomach ;  another  on  pericar- 
ditis. 

"  lu  1826,  a  memoir  on  abscess  of  the  liver ;  another  on 
the  condition  of  the  spinal  marrow  in  Pott's  disease ;  a  third 
on  sudden  and  unforeseen  deaths ;  a  fourth  upon  slow  but  anti- 
cipated deaths,  but  which  anatomy  will  not  explain;  a  fifth 
on  the  treatment  of  taenia  by  the  Darbon  potion  {Archives  de 
mSdecine) . 


"In  1825,  his  Anatomical  Researches,  &c.,  on  Phthisis 
(1  vol.  8vo)  ;  reprinted  with  many  additions  in  1843. 

"In  1828,  Researches  on  the  Typlioid  Affection  or  Fever 
(2  vols.  8vo),  reprinted  with  many  additions  in  1841. 

"In  1834,  Examination  of  Broussais' examination  (in  8vo). 

"In  1835,  Researches  on  the  effects  of  Venesection  in  some 
inflammatory  diseases  (8vo). 

"And,  finally,  1837,  in  the  first  volume  of  the  '  M(?moires 
de  la  Soci^te  Medicale  d'Observation,' — a  Dissertation  on 
the  examination  of  patients  and  the  study  of  general  facts 
(pp.  63)  ;  a  memoir  on  vesicular  emphysema  of  the  lungs 
(100  pp.)  ;  and,  in  the  third  volume  of  the  same  publication, 
his  Researches  on  the  Yellow-Fever  of  Gibraltar,  where  he 
had  been  sent,  in  1828,  with  Messrs.  Chervin  and  Trousseau, 
in  order  to  observe  the  Yellow-Fever  as  it  prevailed  at  that 
place  (pp.  300)." 

Such,  gentlemen,  is  the  simple  history  of  Lonis' 
scientific  life  as  given  by  himself,  without  com- 
ment ;  viz.,  fifteen  memoirs  and  four  ample  octavo 
volumes,  published  between  1823  and  1837.  These 
works,  though  but  little  read  now,  formed  an  epoch 
in  medicine  at  the  time  they  were  published.  They 
were,  in  fact,  the  stalwart  protest  of  an  earnest, 
truth-loving  man  against  all  the  theories  then  ram- 
pant under  the  jjowerful  and  winning  influence  of 
Broussais,  who  had  regally  governed  the  medical 
mind  of  France,  England,  America,  and,  in  a  mea- 
sure, that   of  the  entire   civilized  world.      Louis' 


works  are  all  founded  on  analyses  of  cases,  recorded 
without  prejudice,  but  with  the  gi-eatest  accuracy 
and  much  detail  by  the  bedsides  of  the  sick. 

THE   NUMERICAL    METHOD. 

They  form  the  brightest  exponent  of  the  so-called 
"^N^umerical  Method,"  of  which  Louis  was  the 
father.  This  system  consisted  in  counting  the 
various  items  of  several  cases,  whereby  we  are 
enabled  to  state  the  exact  numbers  of  cases  in 
which  certain  symptoms  or  lesions  are  observed.  It 
has  been  the  object  of  ridicule,  but  nevertheless  its 
very  enemies  have  felt  its  power,  at  least  in  cer- 
tain directions.^  It  has  compelled  men  at  least  to 
ajipear  to  investigate  thoroughly  ;  and  those  of  us 
who  believed  in  it,  not  as  a  perfect  method,  but  one 
which  had  infinite  advantages  over  the  imaginative 
modes,  too  often  followed  previously,  have  had  a 
secret  pleasure  in  seeing  men  like  Bouillaud,  the 
great  disciple  of  Broussais,  at  times  bowing  to  its 
influence.     We  were  also  delighted  at  the  cordial 

I  One  of  the  squibs  of  the  day  was  somewhat  of  this  nature  :  "  Louis 
impressed  upon  his  students  the  importance  of  recording  tlie  hereditary 
tendencies  in  each  case.  Tlie  caricature  showed  an  over-zealous  and  not 
very  wise  pupil,  summoned  suddenly  to  set  a  broken  leg,  who  would  do 
nothing  without  recording.  He  has  taken  out  his  note-book  and  ha«  re- 
corded name,  age,  and  the  ancestral  troubles  of  the  sufferer,  and,  according 
to  rule,  asks,  '  Were  your  parents  or  grandparents,  uncles  or  aunts,  liable 
to  broken  legs  or  arms  ? ' " 

2 


10 


recognition  of  its  value  by  Louis'  great  and  eloquent 
friends,  Andral  and  Chomel.  For  my  own  part,  I 
have  always  believed  in  that  system  ;  although  1  did 
not  see  how  it  could  be  exactly  applied  to  many  of 
the  minute  problems  of  therapeutics,  however  easily 
and  properly  it  could  be  used  in  many  other  medi- 
cal researches.  To  that  method  and  to  the  strict 
course  of  investigation  which  every  one  ought  to 
pursue  in  every  case,  and  which  was  called  into  use 
by  Louis,  I  am  sure  I  owe  the  greater  part  of  what- 
ever professional  success  I  have  had.  While  then  I 
would  urge  my  junior  associates  to  ponder  well  this 
assertion,  and  to  practise  upon  it  with  assured  suc- 
cess, I  ask  all  present,  if  I  ought  not  to  be  grateful 
to  it,  and  to  the  master  who  taught  me  this  right 
course  of  study  and  of  subsequent  action. 

But,  whatever  may  be  your  opinion,  cei'tain  it  is 
that  its  influence,  and  with  that  influence  the  fame  of 
Louis,  extended  wherever  medical  science  was  culti- 
vated. Louis'  works  on  Phthisis  and  Typhoid 
Fever  were  considered,  when  first  published,  and  are 
considered  now,  as  far  as  they  go,  a  collection  of 
laws  of  these  diseases,  derived,  as  the  astronomer 
derives  his  laws,  from  simple  observations,  and  a 
wide  comparison  of  many  such.  The  "numerical 
method''  is  virtually  now  carried  out  under  our 
more  improved  means  of  investigation,  in  which, 


11 


from  the  nature  of  the  case,  there  are  fewer  observ- 
ers. We  take  no  one  man's  assertion  of  a  fact 
on  any  question  of  scientific  interest ;  but  require 
that  numbers  of  men  should  confirm  or  reject 
it  after  numbers  of  observations  made  by  each. 
As  I  have  acknowledged  its  great  power  over 
me,  so  I  think  I  see  its  distinct  effect  on  some  of 
the  best  writers  we  have  had  in  England  and 
America  during  the  past  thirty  years,  even  when 
some  of  them  would  hardly  admit  that  they  were 
disciples  of  Louis. 

But  the  immediate  influence  of  Louis  upon  sev- 
eral English  and  American  students  was  very  great. 
They  carried  home  his  ideas,  and  these  ideas  spread 
rapidly  in  England  and  America. 

SOCIETY    FOR    MEDICAL     OBSERVATION    AT    PARIS. 

In  1832,  a  few  students  in  Paris  proposed  to  form 
a  Society  for  medical  observation,  and  they  asked 
Louis  to  be  their  perpetual  president.  They  also 
requested  Messrs.  Andral  and  Chomel  to  allow 
themselves  to  be  considered  as  honorary  presi- 
dents, as  they  would  thereby  show  their  respect 
for  the  objects  of  the  Society.  All  these  gentle- 
men consented.     These  objects  were:  — 

1.  To  make  all  the  members  of  the  Society  good 
observers  of  disease,  by  requiring  each  in  turn  to 


12 


go  through  a  kind  of  apprenticeship  in  the  record- 
ing of  obsei-vations,  and  in  submitting  such  obser- 
vations to  the  criticisms  of  every  member  of  the 
Society. 

2.  They  hoped  to  be  able  to  influence  the  medi- 
cal mind  generally,  and  bring  it  to  the  comprehen- 
sion of  the  gi'cat  value  of  accurate  observation  and 
recording  of  the  phenomena  of  disease. 

3.  They  also  hoped,  either  as  a  Society  or  as  indi- 
viduals, to  publish  memoirs  which,  being  in  them- 
selves strict  deductions  from  facts,  would  be  real 
additions  to  medical  science,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  would  present  fair  examples  of  the 
numerical  method  as  used  b}'^  Louis  in  medicine. 

These  three  objects  I  believe  were  attained. 
Societies  for  medical  observation  were  also  estab- 
lished in  London  and  Boston.  It  must  be  ad- 
mitted that  the  plan  jiursued  by  the  parent  Society 
was  not  likely  to  persuade  the  majority  of  students 
to  join  it,  even  though  they  might  admit  the  value 
of  accurate  observation,  and  the  importance  of  be- 
coming skilled  observers.  That  plan  was  to  have 
weekly  meetings,  at  which  each  member  in  turn 
was  I'equired  to  read  an  observation  which  had  been 
recorded  at  the  bedside.  The  members  were  ar- 
ranged around  a  table  which  occupied  three  sides 
of  the  room,  and  each  person  had  paper  and  pen  or 


13 


pencil  before  him.  He  was  prepared  to  listen  care- 
fully to  the  reader,  and  equally  prepared  to  note  the 
most  trivial  omission  or  a  too  inconsiderate  deduc- 
tion made  by  him.  In  turn  each  subsequently 
criticised  the  papers  fi'om  these  notes.  This  was 
done  in  the  keenest  manner.  Louis,  as  president, 
summed  up  the  result  of  the  meeting  by  not  only 
criticising  the  reader,  biit  also  his  critics'  remarks, 
so  far  as  he  deemed  them  proper,  or  worthy  of 
further  remark. 

In  order  to  give  you  a  more  perfect  idea  of  the 
methods  pursued  by  the  Society,  allow  me  in  this 
connection  to  ti*y  to  bi'ing  up  to  my  own  memory 
and  possibly  in  some  degree  before  you,  the  facts 
as  they  occurred  at  my  reception  into  it. 

How  vividly  do  I  remember  the  general  effect  of 
that  evening  when  I  presented  my  first  "  observa- 
tion," and  stood  prepared  to  meet  such  criticism  as 
I  have  spoken  of!  Though  so  long  ago  it  seems 
but  as  yesterday,  that,  having  at  last,  after  much 
labor  and  trial,  succeeded,  with  the  aid  of  my  friend 
Bizot,  in  having  my  case  rendered  into  good  French, 
I  took  my  place  at  the  three-sided  table  above 
alluded  to.  I  had  in  my  anxiety  been  awake  and 
oftentimes  engaged  in  writing  during  much  of  the 
previous  night.  Of  course  this  foolish  proceeding 
did  not  tend  to  make  me  calmer  as  I  approached 


14 


the  ordeal.  I  got  through  with  the  reading  well 
enough  for  an  American  who  was  not  quite  skilled 
in  the  tripping,  light  language  of  France,  and 
doubtless  with  many  a  slip  in  proper  intonation, 
ojEten,  I  knew,  provocative  of  an  internal  smile,  but 
which  those  around  me  were  too  polite  to  express 
upon  their  faces.  But  the  reading  was  a  small 
matter  compared  with  the  subsequent  judgment  of 
that  Khadamanthine  court,  as  it  almost  seemed  to 
me  when  fairly  brought  before  it.  I  had  ceased 
reading,  and  Louis  proceeded  to  ask  each  member 
in  turn  to  state  the  errors  he  had  noticed  in  the 
paper.  With  this  commenced  a  running  fire  of  the 
severest  kind  of  criticism.  All  of  it  was  made  in 
the  most  gentlemanly  manner  and  evidently  in  no 
captious  spirit,  but  simply  with  the  determination 
to  make  as  much  out  of  the  occasion  as  could  be 
made  towards  the  clearest  elucidation  of  the  subject. 
Of  course  I  had  neglected  many  common  questions 
which  adepts  felt  necessary.  These  I  admitted 
frankly.  But  when  one  book-worm  seized  upon 
me  and  held  me  up  as  neglectful  of  duty  because  I 
had  not  made  my  "  observation,"  by  a  more  proper 
and  more  careful  questioning  of  my  patient,  elucidate 
some  distant  relations  which  the  disease  in  question 
bore  to  another;  or  when  a  second  member  quietly 
remarked  that  such  a  writer,  naming  him,  of  whom 


15 


perhaps  not  one  other  member  of  the  Society  had 
thought,  had  suggested  so  and  so,  and  that  I  had 
absolutely  neglected  to  offer  any  answer  to  that 
important  matter,  —  after  such  remarks  I,  of  course, 
was  dumb. 

All  the  members  having  thus  given  their  views, 
our  president,  Louis,  took  up  the  subject,  and,  after 
rapidly  reviewing  what  had  been  said  by  others  so 
far  as  he  thought  necessary,  finally  came  down  upon 
me  like  a  discharge  of  one  of  the  far-famed  jnitrail- 
leuses  upon  the  body  of  an  enemy.  If  my  compeers 
had  hit  hard  with  their  random  shots,  he  would,  it 
seemed,  annihilate  me,  as  in  fact  he  finally  did  on 
one  of  my  points ;  viz.,  that  because  I  had  not  pare- 
fully  examined  one  side  of  it,  I  "  might  as  well  have 
omitted  all  reference  to  the  subject " !  And  with 
this  our  meeting  ended.  Believe  me  or  not  as  you 
may  when  I  declare  that  I  bore  the  whole  not 
only  with  complacency,  but  with  a  certain  grim 
delight.  It  was  evident  that  there  was  to  be  no 
nonsense,  and  that  in  that  society  I  should  have 
what  Burns  so  graphically  describes  when  he 
sings :  — 

"  O  wad  some  power  the  giftie  gie  as 
To  see  oursels  as  others  see  us." 

And  I  was  heartily  contented  with  the  result.  I 
looked  forward  with  pleasure  to  another  trial,  fully 


16 


satisfied  that  much  good  would  result  therefrom. 
My  subsequent  experience  in  the  Society  proved 
that  this  kind  of  treatment  was  readily  borne  by  all 
the  original  members,  composed  as  they  were  of  a 
company  who  united  for  that  very  purpose,  and 
knew  what  they  were  to  undergo.  None  among 
them  ever  allowed  any  sentimental  delicacy  towards 
a  reader  to  prevent  him  from  noticing  any  thing 
deemed  erroneous  or  wanting  in  any  paper  ;  at  the 
same  time  there  was  no  petty  quibbling,  no  personal 
attacks ;  and  all  bore  good-humoredly  any  remarks, 
however  severe.  I  am  not  aware  that  any  member 
ever  left  the  parent  Society  in  consequence  of  that 
severity. 

As  much  cannot  be  said  of  this,  our  Boston 
Society,  although  certainly  of  late  years  we  have 
not  made  even  the  most  trifling  approach  to  the 
standard  raised  at  Paris.  And  I  fear  we  never 
shall  come  up  to  that  standard.  Certainly  we 
never  shall  do  so  unless  we  wholly  change  our 
present  modes  of  conducting  our  meetings.  Com- 
pare the  two,  gentlemen !  What  lack-lustre 
gatherings  we  have  here  now  compared  with  those 
in  the  palmy  days  of  the  parent  Society  or  even  of 
this  Society  I  It  is  true  that  in  the  earlier  days 
of  this  Society  we  made  an  approach  to  that  model; 
and  I  know  that  some  of  those  whose  names  now 


17 


appear  on  our  retired  list,  in  the  newly  printed 
catalogue  of  members,  left  our  company  because 
of  the  severe  species  of  criticism  then  prevalent. 
It  is  true  also,  sometimes  the  manner  in  which  those 
criticisms  were  made  had  not  that  fine  polish  which 
I  always  noticed  in  Paris,  and  which  cannot  be 
found  perhaps  anywhere  save  in  that  gay  capital. 
!N^evertheless,  would  that  we  could  go  back  to  old 
habits,  and  gather  again  around  the  table,  each 
with  his  paper  and  pencil  before  him  prepared  for 
real  work,  —  all  of  us!  whereas  now,  usually,  we 
listlessly  let  a  reader  give  us  some  most  important 
or  it  may  be  very  imperfect  papers,  and  then,  while 
admitting  this  in  private,  we  fail  to  express  an 
opinion  or  to  criticise  him  openly. 

To  speak  the  plain  truth,  gentlemen,  the  Boston 
Society  for  Medical  Observation  seems  fairly 
emasculated  in  respect  to  that  truthful  criticism 
which  it  behooves  all  honest  scholars  to  be  willing 
to  give  or  to  receive.  It  would  seem  at  present  as 
if  the  elders  of  the  Society  could  not,  and  the 
juniors  would  not,  engage  at  all  in  this  noblest 
of  exercises,  that  is  if  it  be  governed  solely  by  a 
pure  love  of  and  a  desire  to  arrive  at  truth. 


18 


MEMOIKS   OF   THE     SOCIETY    FOR    MEDICAL     OBSEll- 
VATIOJ^^   AT   PAKIS. 

Since  its  commencement  in  1832,  the  Society  in 
Paris  has  published  three  volmnes  octavo.  Al- 
though some  of  the  subjects  investigated  may  not 
happen  to  be  those  most  interesting  to  young  medi- 
cal minds  of  the  present  day ;  and  although  the 
investigations  are  less  perfect  than  we  have  now 
the  means  of  making,  in  these  microscopic,  spec- 
troscopic, thermometric  and  chemical  times, — 
nevertheless  the  treatises,  as  far  as  they  reach,  will 
always  remain  true  expressions  of  the  teachings  of 
nature,  as  far  as  any  of  the  necessarily  imperfect 
labors  of  man  can  be. 

POSITIOJT   OF   LOUIS   IN   MEDICAL   HISTORY. 

"Where  now  in  the  history  of  medicine  shall  we 
place  Louis?  It  has  always  seemed  to  me  that  we 
should  place  him,  in  his  influence  on  his  own  and 
on  subsequent  generations,  by  the  side  of  John 
Hunter,  Morgagni,  and  men  of  that  stamp. 
Not  that  we  could  class  his  intellect  with  that  of 
John  Hunter  ;  although  with  Morgagni  he  would 
be  nearly  if  not  quite  on  a  par.  But  John  Hunter, 
in  his  far-seeing  genius,  so  much  transcended  any 


19 


other  man  we  have  had  in  medicine  for  centuries, 
that  it  would  be  impossible  to  rank  Louis  with  him. 
ISTevertheless  the  three  were  not  only  animated, 
but  were  fairly  "  possessed,"  as  it  were,  by  the  spirit 
of  inquiry  into  the  secrets  of  nature  in  medical 
science.  It  is  the  same  impulse  which  urged 
Faraday,  and  which  has  urged  all  really  great 
scientific  investigators,  and  which  will  continue 
to  do  so  till  the  end  of  time.  These  three  great 
men  of  our  profession  were  "  possessed "  by  this 
spirit  in  an  eminent  degree.  Louis  finely  desci-ibes 
it  in  the  autograph  which  he  gave  to  the  editor  of 
the  "Pantheon"  already  alluded  to.  At  his  last 
interview  with  me,  Louis,  when  giving  me  his 
portrait  and  autograph  (which  I  now  place  in 
your  care),  slowly  read  over  the  words,  as  if  they 
were  his  parting  gift  to  me,  his  pupil.  It  runs 
thus  :  — 

"  There  is  something  rarer  than  the  spirit  of  dis- 
cernment :  it  is  the  need  of  truth  ;  that  state  of  the 
soul  which  does  not  allow  us  to  stop  in  any  scien- 
tific labors  at  what  is  only  probable,  but  compels  us 
to  continue  our  researches  until  we  have  arrived  ftf: 
evidence."  ^ 

1  H  y  a  quelque  chose  de  plus  rare  que  I'esprit  de  discernement,  p'est  le 
besoin  de  la  verite ;  cet  etat  de  ITune  qui  ne  nous  permet  pas  de  nous  arreter, 
dans  les  travaux  scientiiiques,  a  ce  qui  n'est  que  vraisemblable,  et  nous  oblige 
il  continuer  nos  recherches  jusqu'k  ce  que  nous  soyons  arriv^  ^  I'e'Tidenoe. 


20 


This  principle,  underlying  as  it  does  the  works 
of  Hunter,  Morgagni,  and  Louis,  and  others  of 
that  class  of  mind,  allies  them  to  one  another,  and 
has  ever  made  their  influence  great  with  their 
associates,  and  still  greater  in  a  wider  field  with 
posterity.  ISTot  that  the  persons  who  may  be  so 
influenced  will  always  recognize  the  benign  power 
that  sways  them  ;  but  they  will  be  swayed  notwith- 
standing. That  this  is  true  is  evident  in  the 
present  power  of  John  Hunter,  but  who,  of  the 
many  who  allude  to  him,  now  read  his  many  works? 
His  powerful  mind  has  indelibly  impressed  itself 
on  the  ages,  because  it  was  in  its  operations  con- 
sonant with  those  of  nature,  which  are  ever  en- 
during, ever  widening.  Morgagni,  Hunter,  and 
Louis  were  all  a  protest — each  in  his  own  day, 
and  within  his  own  intellectual  limits — against  any 
pretence  to  unravel  the  secrets  of  nature  by  specu- 
lation merely.  They  all  deemed  that  hard  labor  on 
the  facts  of  nature  alone  brought  out  the  truth. 

CLLN^ICAL    CONFERENCES   AT   HARVARD. 

Here  let  me  allude  to  one  influence  now  exerted 
by  Louis,  and  which  I  trust  will  be  for  ever  exerted 
by  him  in  Massachusetts.  The  origin  of  this  in- 
fluence is  suspected  only  by  a  few,  and  is  wholly 


21 


unknown  to  most  of  those  who  have  felt  it  hitherto. 
I  allude  to  the  Clinical  Conferences,  so  called,  of 
the  Harvard  Medical  School.    These  exercises  were 
commenced  in  1859,  when  I  first  became  connected 
with  the  chair  of  clinical  medicine  in  the  University. 
Since  their  commencement,  I  think  I  may  say  with 
truth,  they  have  been  of  service  to  all  who  have 
jpractically  engaged  in  them,  although  of  little  or 
no  use  to  those  who  range  themselves   as   mere 
spectators   in  the   upper   seats   of  the   theatre   in 
which  these  sessions  are  held.     I  here  confidently 
appeal  to  those  who  have  availed   themselves  of 
these  opportunities  for  instruction  to  say  whether 
there  is  any  other  work  in  that  school  which  is 
more  stimulating  to  vigorous  mental  action  than 
these  "  Conferences."     And  they  owe  their  origin 
wholly  to  Louis.     They  are,  in  fact,  simply  an  ap- 
plication to   the  teaching  of  clinical   medicine  in 
Massachusetts  of  the  principles  and  modes  of  action 
pursued  by  Louis  and  the  Society  for  Medical  Ob- 
servation in  Paris. 

Let  me  add  that  the  very  word  "  conferences," 
which  has  been  sneered  at  by  some  as  savoring 
rather  of  religious  dogma  than  of  science,  is  adopted 
from  Louis'  own  expression,  who  in  his  modesty 
would  not  call  his  clinical  lectures  at  La  Pitie  by 
that  name,  but  simply  "  conferences,"  though  in 


22 


public  he  did  all  the  talking.  But  after  his  lecture 
was  over,  he,  like  Socrates,  delighted  to  converse 
with  a  bevy  of  young  disciples ;  and  certainly  these 
subsequent  conferences  were  most  profitable  to  us 
all. 

AITOEAL,  CHOMEL,  ANT>  LOUIS  !  THE  TRIUMVI- 
RATE OF  THE  MEDICAL  SCHOOL  OF  PARIS  OF 
FORTY  YEARS   AGO. 

How  friendly  were  these  three  men !  how  similar 
in  their  undercurrents  of  thought!  how  dissimilar 
in  their  modes  of  expressing  these  thoughts ! 

Allow  me  in  passing  to  try,  hastily  and  all  im- 
perfectly I  know,  to  bring  up  before  you  each  one 
of  these  great  men  of  our  profession. 

Andral,  as  professor  at  the  Ecole  de  Medecine, 
was  lecturing  on  general  pathology.  Chomel 
gave  clinical  lectures  at  La  Charite  ;  Louis  held  his 
"  conferences  "  at  La  Pitie.  Andral  was  the  rising 
sun.  Broussais,  then  faltering  with  age,  still  clung 
with  iron  tenacity  to  all  the  theories  he  had  pro- 
mulgated, and  fought  for  them  in  his  old  arena,  the 
amphitheatre  of  the  school,  with  a  fury  that  at 
times  was  most  unamiable  to  see.  Quite  grotesque 
and  what  would  have  been  very  laughable  incidents 
occurred  at  times  at  his  lectures,  if  one  could  ever 


23 


look  with  levity  on  the  follies  of  an  old  'man  who, 
having  been  once  famous,  had  survived  his  own 
fame,  not  only  with  the  wild  students  at  Paris,  but 
likewise  with  many  medical  men.  By  a  most  un- 
fortunate arrangement  for  Broussais,  he  was  com- 
pelled to  lecture  during  the  hour  immediately 
preceding  that  which  his  junior  and  great  rival 
Andral  occupied.  The  consequence  was,  that  those 
wishing  to  procure  good  seats  and  to  hear  Andral 
with  ease  in  that  immense  amphitheatre,  were  forced 
to  listen,  the  half-hour  previous  to  Andral's  lecture, 
to  the  violent  denunciations  which  the  weak  old 
man  squeaked  out  against  all  who  did  not  accept 
the  doctrines  of  the  "Phlegmaties  Chroniques." 
At  these  times  he  would  often  become  almost  fran- 
tic, as  he  saw  the  seats  which  had  been  nearly 
empty  at  the  beginning  of  his  own  lecture,  gradu- 
ally filling  to  their  utmost  capacity  towards  the 
termination  of  it,  with  students  who  had  come  to 
hear  his  younger  and  great  opponent.  His  face  at 
such  a  time  seemed  to  light  up  apparently  in  unut- 
terable wrath,  and  he  rapidly  poured  out  his  vol- 
umes of  theory  upon  those  who,  he  well  knew,  were 
adherents  of  Andral.  One  day,  in  order  to  occupy 
the  vacant  half-hour,  one  of  my  friends,  with  whom 
I  usually  attended  upon  Andral's  course,  made  a  pen- 
cil sketch  of  the  angry  professor;  and  the  artist  has 


24 


caught,  as  we  all  thought  at  the  time,  I  had  nearly 
said  the  almost  demoniac  expression  which  Brous- 
sais  had  at  the  moment  of  his  anger.  That  sketch 
is  now  in  the  Cabinet  of  the  Harvard  Medical 
School,  and  I  never  looked  at  it  without  having 
most  vividly  brought  back  to  my  memory  the  fol- 
lowing scene.  The  amphitheatre  was  nearly  full. 
The  professor  was  dressed  in  his  usual  scarlet- 
trimmed  cap  and  flowing  black  gown.  As  he  went 
on  in  his  discourse  he  became  more  and  more 
earnest.  His  face  glowed  savagely.  His  arms 
were  thrown  about  furiously  and  rather  irregu- 
larly. He  used  two  pairs  of  spectacles ;  one 
rested  on  his  nose,  while  the  handle  of  the  other 
was  grasped  in  his  right  hand.  We  never  could 
tell  whether  it  was  this  second  pair  or  some 
fold  of  his  gown  which  floated  up  ;  but  certain 
it  is  that  one  or  the  other  struck  the  profes- 
sor's cap,  and  it  rolled  from  his  head  upon  the  floor 
before  him.  The  confusion  of  the  unfortunate  man 
at  the  accident  may  be  imagined.  It  was  most 
painful  to  many  of  us  who  now  began  to  sympathize 
with  him.  The  incident,  however,  met  with  no  sym- 
pathy from  the  majority  of  the  students  collected 
there,  and  the  room  rang  with  derisive  laughter,  and 
the  lecture  was  suddenly  and  ignobly  finished. 
Immediately  after  Broussais  had  finished  his  lee- 


25 


ture,  Andral  entered  and  took  possession  of  the 
professor's  vacant  rostrum.  He  was  quiet  and 
calm,  and  bowed  gracefully  to  rounds  of  hearty 
applause  from  the  students. 

Andral  was  rather  below  the  medium  size.  He 
had  a  young  and  a  fine  intelligent  face.  His  head 
was  covered  with  an  ample  supply  of  dark  hair. 
The  moment  he  commenced  speaking  there  fell 
over  the  vast  hall  of  the  Ecole  de  Mcdecine  an 
entire  silence,  which  was  preserved  with  the  great- 
est decorum  and  attention  to  the  very  end  of  the 
lecture.  Andral  always  viewed  in  its  fullest  extent, 
and  really  ennobled  in  our  eyes,  every  subject,  what- 
ever its  character,  on  which  he  undertook  to  speak. 
His  learning  seemed  illimitable,  and  he  would  gather 
all  of  it  before  us  to  illustrate  his  theme.  He  was, 
nevertheless,  a  great  dealer  in  facts,  which  with  his 
broad  generalizing  power  he  was  wont  to  classify, 
when  inferior  men  were  unable  to  see  their  relations. 
His  tendencies  were,  if  I  may  so  speak,  centrifugal, 
as  Louis'  were  centripetal.  That  is,  Andral,  while 
obeying  a  certain  impulse  to  rest  on  facts,  would 
with  his  learning  and  imagination  bring  data  from 
the  opposite  extremes  of  medical  experience,  and 
bind  them  into  one  vast  whole.  All  this  was  done 
in  the  most  polished  language,  with  an  easy,  frank 
delivery  and  perfect  self-possession.     His  sonorous 

4 


26 


voice  rang  through  the  amphitheatre,  and  he  kept 
the  attention  even  of  the  most  frivolous  of  the 
students  riveted  to  the  subject.  He  felt  entirely  at 
home  among  them,  and  he  governed  them  with  his 
words  and  a  nod.  He  was  the  demigod  of  the 
hour  and  place. 

Next  to  Andral  appeared,  in  the  eyes  of  most  stu- 
dents, the  well-beloved  and  respected  Chomel.  He 
reminded  me  in  his  manners  to  his  patients  and 
to  his  pupils,  in  his  clear  method  of  lecturing  on 
cases  and  his  skill  in  diagnosis,  more  of  the  late  Dr. 
James  Jackson  than  of  any  other  man,  I  ever  saw, 
French,  American,  or  English.  He  was  always 
the  genial,  easy-speaking,  well-informed,  truth- 
loving  teacher  and  gentleman.  His  intelHgent 
smile  was  like  a  sunbeam  to  us.  Words  fell  from 
his  lips  like  the  natural  and  melodious  notes  of  a 
bird.  His  eloquent  and  truthful  lectures  won  all 
hearts  as  much  by  the  grace  and  kindly  manner 
with  which  they  were  delivered  as  by  the  medical 
learning  they  showed.  His  allusions  to  the  laws  laid 
down  by  his  gi-eat  friend  Louis  won  praise  from 
all. 

And  last  but  not  least  of  these  three  comes 
Louis.  I  have  already  alhided  to  his  style  of  lectur- 
ing. He  was  of  tall,  compact  form,  and  with  fea- 
tures rather  severe  ;  grave  in  mannei'  to  those  who 


27 


knew  him  not,  but  full  of  loving  tenderness  to  those 
to  whom  he  gave  his  heart.  With  his  patients  he 
had  a  brusque  manner,  and  a  quick,  jerking  kind  of 
utterance;  and  often,  I  doubt  not,  appeared  rough 
when  propounding  his  searching  questions.  His 
voice  lacked  the  clear  tones  of  Andral,  the  gentle,  win- 
ning softness  which  marked  Chomel  in  his  general 
intercourse  with  the  students.  In  fact  it  seemed  to  me 
that  until  age  and  grief  had  mellowed  Louis'  whole 
nature,  he  lacked  towards  the  multitude  that  fine 
delicacy  of  voice  and  manner  his  two  friends  pos- 
sessed in  a  high  degree.  But  that  he  had  it,  those 
well  knew  who  were  admitted  to  his  friendship. 

What  shall  I  say  of  Louis  as  a  lecturer  ?  He 
was  not  an  easy  speaker.  He  lacked  power  and 
grace  of  delivery.  In  fact,  in  order  to  be  able  com- 
fortably to  follow  him,  one  needed  to  feel  the  value 
of  the  method  he  had  pursued  in  his  studies,  and 
to  have  a  faith  in  his  love  of  truth  coupled  with  a 
belief  that  from  these  two  facts  the  professor 
would  be  better  stble  than  any  mere  theorist  to  re- 
veal to  us  the  laws  of  disease,  so  far  as  they  were 
known.  But  he  was  ill  at  ease  in  the  teacher's 
chair.  He  would  talk  fluently  by  the  bedside  of  a 
patient,  and  give  out  the  brilliant  results  of  his 
years  of  patient  labor  while  in  Chomel's  wards;  but 
he  trembled  and  was  awkward  with  his  notes  when 


28 


lecturing  at  his  so-called  "  conferences."  His  hand 
at  times  shook  so  much  that  one  felt  a  sincere  pity 
for  him,  as  in  his  "  numerical "  way,  he  laid  down 
his  propositions.  The  consequence  of  all  this  was 
that  Louis  always  had  few  followers.  "He  was 
dry,"  the  students  said.  He  had  none  of  the 
glowing  and  delightful  manners  of  Chomel  or  of 
the  eloquence  and  comprehensive  views  of  Andral, 
whose  simple  presence  in  the  vast  amphitheatre  of 
the  Ecole  de  Medecine  was  always  the  signal  for 
wild  enthusiasm  of  the  two  or  three  thousand  stu- 
dents who  filled  it. 

LOUIS    AS   MAN^   AND   FKIEND. 

When  a  few  weeks  since  I  read  in  the  "  Medical 
Times  and  Gazette  "  the  fact  that  Louis  was  dead ; ' 
and  that  Barth,  my  old  fellow-student  and  asso- 
ciate in  the  Society  for  Medical  Observation,  now 
president  of  the  ^N^ational  Academy  of  Medicine, 
had  said  words  of  touching  eulogy  over  his  grave, 
a  pang  went  through  me  as  at  the  loss  of  one 
of  my  dearest  friends.  And,  gentlemen,  I  had 
just  reason  for  such  a  feeling,  as  you  will  readily 
acknowledge  when  I  tell  you  the  following  fact. 
When  I,  a  young  American   stranger,  fell  ill  in 

1  After  a  brief  illness,  Aug.  22,  1872. 


29 


Paris,  Louis  immediately  sought  out  my  residence 
and  attended  me  like  a  father  during  a  severe  rheu- 
matic fever  which  lasted  for  weeks.  How  many  of 
our  American  professors  would  do  the  same  favor 
to  a  young  Frenchman  who  should  happen  to  be 
attending  their  lectures  ?  It  is  true  that  I  had  been 
favorably  introduced  to  him  by  my  classmate  James 
Jackson,  Jr.,  and  Louis  and  Jackson  were  devoted 
friends  ;  and,  through  their  friendship,  I  was  able  to 
see  how  cordial  and  true  Louis  was  in  those  inti- 
mate relations.  How  like  pleasant  dreams  come  up 
before  me  the  daily  morning  visits  of  that  excellent 
man  during  those  weeks  of  lonely  and  severe  suffer- 
ing !  How  genial  and  even  merry  his  voice  at  those 
times!  He  always  had  some  badinage  to  cheer  me, 
and  often  words  of  wisdom.  "  Well,  my  dear,"  said 
he  one  morning,  "are  you  taking  notes  of  your 
case?  You  cannot  do  any  thing  better,  for  you  may 
be  sure  you  will  never  have  a  better  ojy'portuniiy  of 
studying  it  than  you  have  now  1 "  The  suggestion 
seems  at  first  sight  a  joke,  and  yet  I  do  not  think 
he  really  meant  it  wholly  as  such.  At  any  rate,  it 
led  me  for  some  days  to  the  notice  of  special  parts 
of  my  body  which  became  successively  affected,  and 
my  time  was  thus  to  a  certain  extent  pleasurably 
passed  in  watching  the  different  muscles  or  joints 
as  they  became  painful  or  difficult  of  motion.     A 


30 

few  days  afterwards  on  my  mentioning  the  fact  that 
I  had  noted^  down  various  items,  but  that  I  could 
do  so  no  longer,  as  both  hands  were  then  lame, 
"Oh  ! "  he  replied  with  sparkling,  merry  eye,  "  now 
you  must  dictate."  But  this  was  more  than  my 
human  nature  could  endure,  especially  as  the  pains 
became  terriblv  acute  soon  afterwards. 

INFLUENCE   OE  LOUIS  ON  SCEPTICISM  IN  MEDICINE. 

I  spent  the  greater  part  of  two  years  and  a 
half  in  his  wards.  In  the  spring  of  1835  I  left 
him  with  regret.  I  had  had  special  courses  with 
various  individuals ;  but  my  chief,  I  may  almost 
say  my  only,  Parisian  medical  education  had  been 
with  him.  He  had  moulded  my  medical  mind 
into  such  a  rigid  belief  in  the  necessity  of  strict 
deductions  from  facts  actually  studied  out  with 
the  utmost  care  at  the  bedside  that,  for  a  time, 
I  flippantly  talked  of  all  that  had  preceded  us 
as  if  their  influence  was  to  be  deemed  of  no  im- 
portance in  the  presence  of  the  exceeding  light  that 
strict  observation  was  to  throw  on  medicine.  I  also 
gathered  from  him  a  scepticism  in  regard  to  all 
treatment,  and  was  apt  to  think  it  extreme  wisdom 
to  decry  all  remedies,  even  those  which  centuries 
had  handed  down  to  us.     I  have  had  gradually  to 


31 


unlearn  this  grave  error,  as  I  deem  it,  nndei"  the 
influence  of  my  own  experience  in  practice.  But 
it  is  astonishing  how  little  of  the  details  of  medical 
diagnosis  and  prognosis  which  I  learned  of  him  I 
have  found  erroneous.  But,  after  all,  are  not  these 
among  the  chief  objects  that  should  interest  every 
physician  ?  How  in  fact  can  we  treat  any  patient 
without  them  ?  The  late  Dr.  James  Jackson,  our 
master  in  medicine  for  ^ew  England,  once  said  : 
"  Gentlemen,  study  always  to  make  an  accurate  and 
minute  diagnosis  and  prognosis  in  each  case.  Hav- 
ing got  these  accurately,  the  treatment  is  compara- 
tively plain."  To  the  first  part  of  the  proposition  I 
supi30se  we  all  heartily  agree,  but  to  the  latter,  viz., 
as  to  treatment,  we  should  none  of  us  now  give  our 
consent ;  for,  in  the  utter  chaos  of  opinion  now  ex- 
isting as  to  treatment,  all  are  pervaded  with  a  trem- 
bling hesitation,  very  different  from  that  state  of 
compai'atively  placid  routine  which  held  sway  when 
Dr.  Jackson  uttered  the  remark.  Over  this  chaos 
I  think  I  see  a  light  breaking,  and  already  some  of 
the  great  points  of  therapeutics,  some  of  which 
have  been  often  seen  since  the  time  of  Hippoc- 
rates, are  reappearing  amid  the  mists  that  surround 
us.  But  the  amount  of  the  positive  which  I  got 
from  Louis  as  a  phj'sician,  so  far  transcends  all  the 
merely  negative,  and  the  love  I  bore  him  as  a  man, 


32 


have  been  so  precious  to  me,  and  so  perpetually 
recurring  during  all  my  professional  life,  that  now 
my  regret  at  his  death  is  more  than  can  be  told  to 
any. 

HIS    LATER   LITE. 

I  have  seen  him  twice  during  the  past  forty  years. 
In  1859  I  found  him  keenly  and  kindly  critical  as 
of  old.  I  laid  out  before  him  on  the  floor  of  his 
study  at  Rue  de  Menars  my  map  of  Massachusetts 
in  reference  to  the  influence  of  moisture  in  causing 
consumption.  It  was  evidently  a  new  thought  to 
him.  He  did  not  reject  it,  but  suggested  that  I 
should  make  still  further  investigation,  and  widen 
my  horizon  of  observation.  He  was  then  sixty-two 
years  old.  He  had  retired  from  La  Pitie,  the  scene 
of  his  chief  labors  as  a  teacher,  and  was  having  an 
ample  consultation  practice.  His  early  hard  study 
and  self-denial  were  having  a  full  pecuniary  re- 
ward. He  had  married  the  sister  of  the  eminent 
republican  refugee,  Victor  Hugo.  She  was  a  most 
estimable  and  intelligent  lady,  who  gave  that  grace- 
fulness to  his  home  which,  if  he  had  remained  a 
bachelor,  it  would  perhaps  have  wanted.  They 
had  one  son.  He  was  the  idol  of  his  parents, 
and  fully  worthy  of  them  as  I  have  learned  fi-om 
others.     The  few  hours  I  spent  with  my  old  master 


33 


proved  that,  though  resting  from  his  hibors  and 
enjoying  an  enviable  fame  with  an  ample  profes- 
sional practice,  he  still  retained  that  noble  spirit  of 
faithful,  kindly  criticism  he  had  early  inculcated  on 
all  of  us.  The  moments  thus  passed  in  his  study 
are  most  pleasant  memories. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  meet  him  once  more 
in  this  life,  viz.,  in  1867,  when  Louis  was  eighty 
years  old,  and  I  no  longer  a  student,  but  a  graybeard 
of  fifty-nine.  We  had  both  experienced  some  of 
the  highest  pleasures,  and  suffered  one  of  the  sever- 
est losses  that  can  fall  upon  any  man.  Louis'  son 
had  grown  up  to  be  a  youth  of  great  promise,  when 
the  seeds  of  consumption  began  to  manifest  them- 
selves. In  vain  did  the  father  try  to  ward  off  the 
blow  by  travel  and  change  of  climate.  Death  early 
came,  and  that  blow  for  a  time  prostrated  Louis. 
But  I  was  most  happy  to  find  that  it  had  left  no 
sting  of  petty  complaint  behind  it.  Believing  as 
he  did  in  the  governance  of  this  world  by  almighty 
goodness  as  well  as  power,  Louis  arose  chastened  and 
subdued  in  regard  to  many  things,  but  with  a  heart 
warmer  than  ever  to  all  the  advanced  learning  of 
his  juniors  in  the  profession,  and  to  all  the  amen- 
ities of  friendly  life.  I  called  at  the  old  place,  Rue 
de  Menars,  No.  8.  Mons.  Louis  was  at  his  country 
seat,  which  he  hired,  nearly  opposite  the  lovely  Jar- 


34 


din  d'Acclimitation  in  the  Bois  de  Bonlogne.  He 
immediately  returned  the  call,  and  invited  me  to 
dine  with  him.  N^ot  satisfied  with  that,  and  fearing 
I  might  not  easily  find  the  spot,  he  drove  over  in 
his  own  carriage  and  took  me  to  it.  Here  I  met 
his  family  and  a  few  others  in  the  most  friendly 
and  unconventional  way.  Fauvel,  recently  returned 
from  his  Eastern  expedition  where  he  had  under- 
taken to  study  cholera,  and  AYoillez,  were  there. 
Louis  had  the  same  tall  form  and  commanding  head 
as  in  previous  days  ;  the  same  quick  mode  of  utter- 
ance, and  merry  twinkle  of  the  eye.  It  was  pleas- 
ant to  see  the  afiectionate  manner  with  which  he 
greeted  his  friends  and  kissed  the  cheek  of  his  fair 
niece,  who  with  her  husband  was  of  the  party. 
Louis  was  the  centre  of  all,  and  easily  presided 
over  all.  In  fact  he  gently  checked  the  inconsid- 
erate language  of  one  young  Imj)erialist,  who  felt 
called  upon,  during  the  conversation  at  dinner, 
repeatedly  to  utter  words  of  dislike,  not  to  say  con- 
tempt, for  all  rejiublics,  and  so  pointed  was  he  on 
one  occasion  in  an  allusion  to  America,  that  I  felt 
compelled  to  reply.  Louis  came  to  my  assistance 
with  all  the  seeming  vigor  of  youth,  and  gently 
threw  oil  on  the  troubled  waters.  Forty  years 
seemed  not  to  have  added  a  feather's  weight  to 
him.     His  hair  was  silvered  and  longer  than  for- 


35 

merlj,  but,  as  he  talked  of  modern  work  in  medicine, 
and  regretted  the  going  out  of  the  great  lights  of 
the  medical  school  of  forty  years  ago,  of  Chomel, 
who  is  I  believe  dead,  and  of  Andral,  who  is 
wholly  absorbed  in  other  things  than  the  teaching 
of  medicine,  he  seemed  filled  with  his  old  fire;  but 
superadded  to  it,  and  giving  a  grace  and  dignity  to 
him  which  I  had  never  seen  before,  were  the  com- 
bined influences  of  age  genially  borne,  and  the 
blessed  memory  of  a  great  sorrow. 

CONCLUSION. 

I  have  thus,  gentlemen,  in  a  most  rapid,  desul- 
tory, and,  perhaps  you  may  say,  too  egotistical  a 
manner,  given  you  a  few  reminiscences  of  my 
great  master  and  dear  friend,  and  his  compeers.  I 
cannot  bear  the  thought  that  I  may  never  more  see 
that  sunny  smile,  or  touch  the  friendly  hand,  or  listen 
to  the  voice  that  spoke  so  sweetly  to  me  when  ill 
and  suffering  in  the  days  of  my  youth,  and  greeted 
me  so  cordially  at  our  last  interview. 

Allow  me  to  conclude  with  allusions  to  two 
answers  given  by  Louis  to  a  question  propounded 
by  me  at  two  periods  of  his  life;  viz.,  at  the  time  I 
first  left  Paris,  when  he  was  forty-seven  years  old, 
and   ao-ain    when    I   last   saw   him,  when   he  was 


36 


eighty.  I  must  premise  that  at  the  time  of  my 
first  residence  in  Paris,  Jouffroy,  the  great  lecturer 
on  i^hilosophy  at  the  Sorbonne,  attracted  me  and 
many  of  my  friends  to  listen  to  his  lectures,  on  the 
great  themes  of  life  and  death,  and  of  the  future. 
These  themes  he  handled  with  perfect  frankness, 
and  in  a  manner  most  attractive,  even  to  some  of 
the  most  volatile  of  the  French  students.  I  well 
remember  the  first  subject  I  heard  treated  by  him, 
and  the  announcement  of  his  lecture  was  some- 
what as  follows  :  — 

"Gentlemen,  —  I  shall  speak  to  you  to-day  of  the  future 
life,  of  what  it  inuat  be  according  to  the  constitution  of  the 
human  mind." 

A  bold  thesis  truly,  but  most  nobly  handled  ! 
Of  course  I  talked  with  many  persons  about  it. 
Among  others,  I  asked  Louis  what  he  thought. 
"  My  dear,  I  thought  on  these  subjects  for  thirty 
years,  and  now  I  think  of  them  no  moi*e."  Such 
was  the  sum  total  of  his  reply  at  forty-seven. 

At  my  last  meeting,  when  he  was  eighty-two,  on 
my  suggesting  questions  of  similar  import,  he  re- 
plied to  the  purport  that  he  had  faith  that  whatever 
the  good  God  ("  le  hon  Dieu  ")  did  for  us  would  be 
right,  and  for  our  best  good.  It  was  pleasant 
to  find  that  all  the  events  of  his  life  had  brought 


37 


him  to  this  simple  serene  faith,  and  placid  confi- 
dence and  trust;  and  with  this  thought  I  will  leave 
the  memory  of  my  beloved  master  and  friend  in  your 
keeping.  Hold  it  there  most  reverently.  The  sole 
regret  I  feel  has  been  my  inability  to  tell  you  more 
perfectly  of  his  many  most  excellent  qualities. 
Rest  assured,  gentlemen,  that  you  can  scarcely 
over-estimate  his  manly  traits  of  character.  Such 
a  person  does  not  arise  more  than  once  in  a 
century.  Thrice  happy  are  they  whose  good 
fortune  has  led  them  to  know,  to  love,  and  to  listen 
to  him. 


12  81 


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